


True Gryffindor

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drama, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-02-27
Updated: 2007-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-19 20:49:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12417885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: "They were supposed to be Gryffindors, and one ended up hiding, running away; the other one was left alone, and believed that his other old friend was a murderer, while the latter made his best friends change Secret Keepers to save his own skin. How bold, how brave, howheroicthey’d all been."





	1. True Gryffindor

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

**Author's Note: I'm not very sure how I feel about this. I intended it to go somwhere else, but this is what I ended up with. Hope you like it.**

It was the first time he’d come here after it happened. The old, dusty, destroyed building made him shiver, or that was probably the cold of the night. It was a full moon; Moony was somewhere screaming and screeching in pain, aching everywhere. He remembered how much his monthly transformations tortured him. 

He lifted his head and stared at the house that lay before him. No, not a house, he thought, not anymore. This isn’t a house anymore. After the Potters’ death, no one had ever tried to buy it — the memory was still too fresh in everyone’s mind. Sometimes people came to witness the place where the Dark Lord had once been beaten by the miraculous baby. This place was a legend, but legend or not, no one dared to buy the property.

Peter didn’t blame himself for this. He wasn’t one of those people who were brave, or strong enough to blame themselves for their own actions, however terrible they were. It was Lily and James’s fault, of course, for having trusted him with something so _enormous_. All of them, --James, Sirius, Peter, Lily, Dumbledore, -- knew that he wasn’t as strong as they were, and yet, they wanted him to be their Secret Keeper? He remembered how he went home after he’d agreed to do so, and how he had laughed in disbelief. He still recalled that episode perfectly; how he felt so used for having friends who trusted their lives with him, knowing that he was an easy target in He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s hands, and that he’d surely die protecting them (as if), and yet, a small fragment of him feeling something he’d never felt before: respected. He had not one, not two, but _three_ lives on his hands, and even though James and Lily could’ve chosen any other person, they had trusted him, and that was a feeling he didn’t want to forget.

Second of all, it was Sirius’ fault, for having convinced the fugitives to switch Secret Keepers. Bad, bad idea Sirius. You have no idea how much. 

And then there was Remus, thick Remus. He shouldn’t have acted suspicious, or they would have trusted him too. Peter knew that they had suspected him, but Remus? Truth be told, this made him feel slightly insulted. Remus was too sweet, too smart, too damn _benevolent_ to even _think_ of joining the Dark Side! 

He shook his head. They were supposed to be Gryffindors, and one ended up hiding, running away; the other one was left alone, and believed that his other old friend was a murderer, while the latter made his best friends change Secret Keepers to save his own skin. How bold, how brave, how _heroic_ they’d all been.

Peter instead liked to believe he was up to those standards. He was loyal… just not the kind of loyal anyone would’ve thought of, He was brave, had he or had he not accepted to be Secret Keeper and be fearless enough to defy them and sell them off to another higher power, with lots of probabilities he could’ve died in the attempt? Was he brave, having gone into hiding for thirteen years disguised as a rat, into the dark and unknown, after having confronted a close friend in public? Oh yes.

He turned his back to the black ruins, took a deep breath and step forward, feeling relieved and complete for the first time in a long time.


	2. Revised

**a/n: I read the old version of this and didn’t like it much, so I rewrote it. However, I don’t want to delete the other one, so I’ll post the revised version as a new chapter. Thanks for reading. Oh, and excuse my excess with italics; I just love to use them.**

  
**true gryffindor.**

It’s the first time he has come here since it happened. The old, grimly destroyed building that lays right in front of him makes him shiver, or perhaps that’s the cold of the night. He doesn’t dare touch the gate but he isn’t sure heis able to control it anymore, so he puts his hands inside his pockets, with the excuse that he must keep them warm in such a chilly night.

The moonlight shines the ruins with great clarity and with a pang of ache he realises that tonight is a full moon, and Remus is somewhere screeching and howling in pain and misery aching everywhere. It had always been a torture for him to see Remus transform.

He shivers again. 

Pushing the thought of a lonesome werewolf running wild in a forest out of his mind, he concentrates on the house. _No, not a house,_ he thinks, _not anymore_. This hasn’t been a house in a long time.

After the Potters’ death, no one had ever tried to buy the property — the memory was still too fresh in everyone’s mind. Oftentimes people came to visit the place as if it were a _museum_ — to witness the place where the Dark Lord had miraculously been beaten by a one-year-old baby, or just to pay respects to the martyrs. The place is a legend, but legend or not, no one dares to buy it.

He is wasting time but he can’t take his eyes out of the house even if he tries. Peter doesn’t blame himself for this. He is not one of those people who are brave or strong enough to blame themselves for their own actions, especially if one of them ends up in a tragic way, like his had. In reality, it was Lily and James’s fault for having trusted him with something to _enormous_. All of them — James, Sirius, Remus, Dumbledore, and even himself had known that he wasn’t as strong as they were. He never even pretended to be so, and yet, they had chosen him to be their Secret Keeper. 

He remembers. He went home after he had agreed to do so, jumped into his bed and laughed in disbelief. Loud, deafening gales of laughter. He still recalls the episode perfectly: he had felt so used for having friends who trusted their lives with him, knowing he was an easy target in You-Know-Who’s hands, and who would surely die protecting them ( _as if_ ), but something, something had felt so different; he finally had got the respect he had yearned for so long. He had not one, not two, but _three_ lives in his hands when James and Lily could have chosen any other, could have chosen Sirius — _Peter beat Sirius!_ — but had picked him out instead.

But, he has to admit, it hadn’t been all the Potters’ fault. It had been Sirius’s as well, for having convinced them to switch Secret Keepers in an attempt to befuddle You-Know-Who. Bad, _bad_ idea, Sirius; you have no idea how much.

And then there is Remus, _thick_ Remus. He shouldn’t have acted so suspicious, or they would have trusted him, too. They would have got a chance. Peter knew that they had suspected him, but _Remus?_ Truth be told, this had made him feel slightly insulted. Remus was too sweet, too smart, too damn _benevolent_ to even _think_ of joining the Dark Side! 

He hadn’t noticed is breath coming out in small puffs, nor how abnormally rapidly his heart started beating. He shakes his head from side to side, slightly. 

What hurts him most, he thinks, is that all of them had been supposed to be Gryffindors, and one of ended up hiding, thrusting his life and his family’s to an old friend in hopes to survive. The other was left alone by everyone, left to live his life in loneliness forever, with the idea that the wrong friend had commited atrocious murders, while the other one forced his best friends to switch Secret Keepers to save his own skin. How bold, how brave, how _heroic_ they had all been.

Instead, Peter likes to believe he is up to those standards. He _is_ loyal, just not the kind of loyal anyone would have thought of, nor to whom that loyalty was directed to. He _is_ brave — had he, or had he not accepted to be the crucial person for the Fidelius Charm to take place and fearless enough to defy them and sell them off to another higher power, with a thousand probabilities he could have died in the attempt? Had he not been brave, having gone into hiding for thirteen years disguised as a rat, into the dark and unknown, after having confronted a friend in public? 

With one last glance at the ruins, he decides it’s time to go. He gives his back to the house, takes a deep breath and gives a heavy step forward, feeling relieved and complete for the first time in a long time.

_Review!_


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